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Every year I am adding to new features and articles to my College Football Preview and PhilSteele.com and for all 130 teams I have added a couple extra columns to the Game-by-Game Stats that you will find for every team. A lot of people have been asking me what those columns stand for and I thought I would explain it further in today’s blog.
Sample below of Clemson’s Game by Game Stats as a subscriber to Phil Steele Plus on Philsteele.com. Subscribe to Phil Steele Plus 2019 Season right now for just $69.00 through the Super Bowl on the PhilSteele.com Store.
A couple years ago during the season I was wondering how certain offensive and defensive performances that a team had vs a particular opponent stacked up on how the other opponents fared against that team. Not every performance as far as yards gained and given up is created equal due to the quality of opponent played. So to the right of the net yards and points columns, you will see an offensive vs foe and defensive vs foe numbers. The first # is what that performance ranked compared to every other team their opponent allowed throughout the year (#1 being the best, with #12 being the worst since most teams play 12 games) while the second column contains the number of yards positive or negative against their opponent’s average.
I have broke down the offensive and defensive averages and in today’s blog I took all those averages (both offense and defense) and combined them to come up with the most impressive teams in the country compared to how they fared against their opponent. Here is a ranking of all 130 teams and how they did. This list does take out Garbage yards that may occur during overtime and/or blowout wins/losses. You you may see a difference in rankings from the Game by Game Stats listed on the actual Teams Pages. The team page game by game stats include garbage yards.
Here is the breakdown of Offensive and Defensive YPG vs Opponents Average through College Regular Season.
| Offensive | Defensive | |||||
| Team | Rank | Average | Rank | Average | Total | Rank |
| CLEMSON | 4 | 142.0 | 3 | 133.6 | 275.6 | 1 |
| ALABAMA | 3 | 151.5 | 5 | 124.0 | 275.5 | 2 |
| MICHIGAN | 34 | 42.5 | 2 | 142.7 | 185.2 | 3 |
| GEORGIA | 14 | 84.7 | 14 | 98.5 | 183.2 | 4 |
| MISS ST | 55 | 12.2 | 1 | 160.5 | 172.7 | 5 |
| TEXAS A&M | 16 | 77.1 | 17 | 90.3 | 167.4 | 6 |
| OKLAHOMA | 1 | 189.3 | 91 | -26.7 | 162.6 | 7 |
| OHIO ST | 2 | 160.8 | 79 | -12.5 | 148.3 | 8 |
| LSU | 39 | 38.1 | 12 | 99.2 | 137.3 | 9 |
| WASHINGTON | 50 | 16.5 | 10 | 108.3 | 124.9 | 10 |
| MISSOURI | 8 | 97.4 | 51 | 27.0 | 124.4 | 11 |
| BOISE ST | 17 | 73.2 | 33 | 50.9 | 124.1 | 12 |
| CINCINNATI | 68 | -0.7 | 7 | 113.2 | 112.5 | 13 |
| NOTRE DAME | 31 | 44.1 | 27 | 65.8 | 109.9 | 14 |
| Appalachian St | 57 | 10.7 | 13 | 98.9 | 109.6 | 15 |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 7 | 102.0 | 65 | 6.8 | 108.8 | 16 |
| OHIO U | 13 | 88.0 | 58 | 16.3 | 104.2 | 17 |
| FLORIDA | 27 | 50.3 | 32 | 51.1 | 101.3 | 18 |
| FRESNO ST | 59 | 10.4 | 18 | 90.3 | 100.7 | 19 |
| PENN ST | 22 | 53.4 | 37 | 47.0 | 100.4 | 20 |
| ARMY | 92 | -27.4 | 6 | 119.5 | 92.1 | 21 |
| WASH ST | 18 | 60.0 | 46 | 31.3 | 91.3 | 22 |
| UTAH ST | 10 | 91.5 | 69 | -1.2 | 90.3 | 23 |
| WISCONSIN | 35 | 42.1 | 36 | 47.2 | 89.2 | 24 |
| NC State | 20 | 58.4 | 50 | 28.1 | 86.5 | 25 |
| UCF | 6 | 107.1 | 87 | -22.8 | 84.3 | 26 |
| FLORIDA ATLANTIC | 12 | 88.1 | 76 | -7.0 | 81.1 | 27 |
| UAB | 51 | 15.2 | 28 | 65.3 | 80.5 | 28 |
| IOWA | 96 | -31.3 | 9 | 110.6 | 79.3 | 29 |
| MIAMI FLA | 104 | -48.3 | 4 | 127.4 | 79.0 | 30 |
| ARKANSAS ST | 29 | 46.4 | 48 | 31.1 | 77.5 | 31 |
| UTAH | 63 | 5.7 | 24 | 68.0 | 73.7 | 32 |
| MISSISSIPPI | 5 | 121.7 | 106 | -50.1 | 71.5 | 33 |
| AUBURN | 56 | 11.1 | 30 | 60.3 | 71.3 | 34 |
| S MISS | 81 | -18.3 | 19 | 89.3 | 71.0 | 35 |
| BYU | 82 | -19.8 | 20 | 88.6 | 68.8 | 36 |
| MICHIGAN ST | 106 | -50.1 | 8 | 112.0 | 61.9 | 37 |
| IOWA ST | 86 | -20.6 | 22 | 78.1 | 57.5 | 38 |
| TEXAS | 62 | 8.3 | 34 | 48.6 | 56.9 | 39 |
| MIDDLE TENN | 46 | 22.4 | 44 | 31.9 | 54.3 | 40 |
| TEMPLE | 74 | -7.8 | 29 | 61.2 | 53.4 | 41 |
| NEBRASKA | 11 | 89.4 | 96 | -36.4 | 53.0 | 42 |
| NORTH TEXAS | 23 | 52.9 | 68 | 0.1 | 53.0 | 43 |
| AIR FORCE | 44 | 30.5 | 59 | 16.0 | 46.5 | 44 |
| OKLAHOMA ST | 15 | 83.3 | 98 | -38.2 | 45.1 | 45 |
| MARSHALL | 69 | -2.6 | 35 | 47.5 | 44.9 | 46 |
| KENTUCKY | 91 | -27.2 | 23 | 68.8 | 41.6 | 47 |
| BUFFALO | 38 | 39.4 | 67 | 2.1 | 41.5 | 48 |
| VIRGINIA | 100 | -38.7 | 21 | 79.9 | 41.2 | 49 |
| SYRACUSE | 30 | 44.7 | 73 | -4.3 | 40.4 | 50 |
| MEMPHIS | 21 | 58.3 | 84 | -18.2 | 40.0 | 51 |
| TCU | 113 | -58.4 | 15 | 96.0 | 37.6 | 52 |
| GEORGIA TECH | 58 | 10.6 | 54 | 22.9 | 33.5 | 53 |
| CALIFORNIA | 118 | -70.1 | 11 | 100.3 | 30.2 | 54 |
| BAYLOR | 40 | 37.6 | 77 | -7.9 | 29.7 | 55 |
| ARIZONA | 25 | 50.8 | 89 | -23.2 | 27.6 | 56 |
| TROY ST | 94 | -29.9 | 31 | 57.4 | 27.5 | 57 |
| S CAROLINA | 37 | 39.8 | 80 | -12.7 | 27.1 | 58 |
| MIAMI (OH) | 76 | -12.7 | 39 | 38.5 | 25.9 | 59 |
| PITTSBURGH | 85 | -20.2 | 38 | 44.3 | 24.0 | 60 |
| INDIANA | 26 | 50.5 | 93 | -28.3 | 22.1 | 61 |
| TEXAS TECH | 24 | 51.0 | 94 | -28.9 | 22.1 | 62 |
| PURDUE | 19 | 59.4 | 99 | -38.4 | 21.0 | 63 |
| TULANE | 83 | -19.9 | 40 | 38.4 | 18.6 | 64 |
| W MICHIGAN | 36 | 41.4 | 88 | -23.1 | 18.3 | 65 |
| NEVADA | 71 | -4.7 | 55 | 22.0 | 17.3 | 66 |
| ARIZONA ST | 43 | 35.2 | 86 | -20.9 | 14.3 | 67 |
| WYOMING | 123 | -83.0 | 16 | 94.9 | 11.8 | 68 |
| LOUISIANA TECH | 89 | -22.4 | 42 | 33.8 | 11.4 | 69 |
| Charlotte | 112 | -57.1 | 26 | 67.5 | 10.4 | 70 |
| OREGON | 52 | 15.2 | 74 | -6.1 | 9.1 | 71 |
| MINNESOTA | 84 | -20.1 | 49 | 28.9 | 8.8 | 72 |
| COLORADO | 79 | -16.5 | 53 | 22.9 | 6.4 | 73 |
| E MICHIGAN | 93 | -27.6 | 45 | 31.9 | 4.2 | 74 |
| DUKE | 53 | 15.0 | 81 | -12.9 | 2.1 | 75 |
| USC | 80 | -18.2 | 56 | 20.3 | 2.1 | 76 |
| UCLA | 45 | 26.6 | 90 | -25.1 | 1.5 | 77 |
| N CAROLINA | 33 | 42.7 | 103 | -41.4 | 1.2 | 78 |
| SAN DIEGO ST | 117 | -69.7 | 25 | 67.8 | -1.9 | 79 |
| MARYLAND | 78 | -16.1 | 63 | 7.9 | -8.2 | 80 |
| BOSTON COLL | 87 | -21.2 | 61 | 12.7 | -8.5 | 81 |
| LOUISIANNA | 42 | 35.5 | 104 | -44.2 | -8.7 | 82 |
| VIRGINIA TECH | 32 | 43.2 | 109 | -52.6 | -9.4 | 83 |
| WAKE FOREST | 41 | 37.0 | 105 | -47.7 | -10.6 | 84 |
| NORTHWESTERN | 90 | -23.8 | 62 | 10.5 | -13.2 | 85 |
| HOUSTON | 9 | 91.5 | 127 | -105.2 | -13.7 | 86 |
| STANFORD | 64 | 4.5 | 85 | -19.9 | -15.4 | 87 |
| FLORIDA INT’L | 72 | -5.4 | 78 | -10.9 | -16.3 | 88 |
| FLORIDA ST | 98 | -33.0 | 60 | 15.5 | -17.5 | 89 |
| VANDERBILT | 60 | 10.3 | 92 | -28.0 | -17.7 | 90 |
| N ILLINOIS | 107 | -50.4 | 47 | 31.1 | -19.3 | 91 |
| TENNESSEE | 110 | -55.9 | 41 | 34.2 | -21.7 | 92 |
| TOLEDO | 28 | 49.5 | 115 | -73.8 | -24.3 | 93 |
| EAST CAROLINA | 88 | -22.0 | 72 | -3.8 | -25.8 | 94 |
| ULM | 65 | 3.0 | 95 | -30.0 | -27.0 | 95 |
| Georgia Southern | 115 | -60.6 | 43 | 32.8 | -27.7 | 96 |
| ARKANSAS | 111 | -56.8 | 52 | 23.2 | -33.6 | 97 |
| COLORADO ST | 48 | 17.6 | 108 | -51.3 | -33.8 | 98 |
| SOUTH FLORIDA | 67 | -0.1 | 102 | -40.7 | -40.8 | 99 |
| KANSAS ST | 116 | -64.6 | 57 | 16.6 | -48.0 | 100 |
| SMU | 109 | -53.8 | 75 | -6.4 | -60.2 | 101 |
| HAWAII | 47 | 18.0 | 117 | -79.1 | -61.1 | 102 |
| KANSAS | 102 | -46.6 | 82 | -14.9 | -61.5 | 103 |
| NAVY | 119 | -75.8 | 64 | 7.0 | -68.7 | 104 |
| W KENTUCKY | 99 | -37.1 | 101 | -39.3 | -76.4 | 105 |
| Old Dominion | 54 | 14.9 | 124 | -91.9 | -77.0 | 106 |
| Coastal Carolina | 95 | -30.4 | 107 | -50.8 | -81.2 | 107 |
| TULSA | 120 | -79.8 | 71 | -3.5 | -83.3 | 108 |
| BALL STATE | 73 | -7.7 | 118 | -80.7 | -88.3 | 109 |
| UMass | 61 | 9.6 | 125 | -100.2 | -90.6 | 110 |
| UNLV | 75 | -9.2 | 119 | -82.2 | -91.4 | 111 |
| SOUTH ALABAMA | 101 | -41.3 | 112 | -57.4 | -98.7 | 112 |
| Georgia St | 77 | -15.7 | 122 | -88.1 | -103.8 | 113 |
| Liberty | 70 | -4.3 | 126 | -103.3 | -107.6 | 114 |
| BOWLING GREEN | 105 | -48.4 | 113 | -59.6 | -108.0 | 115 |
| ILLINOIS | 49 | 16.9 | 129 | -134.1 | -117.1 | 116 |
| LOUISVILLE | 97 | -32.6 | 121 | -87.4 | -120.0 | 117 |
| UTEP | 121 | -81.0 | 100 | -39.1 | -120.2 | 118 |
| Texas St | 126 | -105.3 | 83 | -16.6 | -121.9 | 119 |
| RUTGERS | 128 | -122.2 | 70 | -2.0 | -124.2 | 120 |
| C MICHIGAN | 129 | -133.5 | 66 | 6.4 | -127.1 | 121 |
| OREGON ST | 66 | 0.3 | 128 | -128.3 | -128.0 | 122 |
| KENT ST | 103 | -48.3 | 120 | -84.4 | -132.7 | 123 |
| NEW MEXICO ST | 108 | -50.7 | 123 | -88.7 | -139.4 | 124 |
| RICE | 124 | -88.0 | 110 | -55.6 | -143.6 | 125 |
| AKRON | 127 | -116.3 | 97 | -37.9 | -154.2 | 126 |
| SAN JOSE ST | 122 | -82.0 | 116 | -77.3 | -159.2 | 127 |
| NEW MEXICO | 125 | -99.7 | 114 | -60.3 | -160.0 | 128 |
| UTSA | 130 | -136.8 | 111 | -56.1 | -192.9 | 129 |
| CONNECTICUT | 114 | -58.6 | 130 | -194.2 | -252.7 | 130 |
